While their husbands and sons marched to war, the women of Burlington and Mercer Counties stayed behind to face massive invasions. From the riverfront of Bordentown to the fields of Crosswicks, they weren’t just spectators—they were tacticians, spies, and survivors. As America’s 250th anniversary approaches, it is time to uncover how their ‘cunning’ and courage are finally being recognized as the secret weapons that shaped a nation.
Living on the War’s Main Road
The main road between New York and Philadelphia ran straight through this region, bringing a constant tide of marching armies and upheaval. With men away in the Continental Army, women became the backbone of the home front—running the farms, mills, and taverns that kept the economy alive. Whether negotiating with hostile foragers or shielding their families from the chaos, they transformed their homes into front lines of resistance.
“The Business of Survival”
Revolutionary taverns were vital social hubs, often kept alive by the grit of wives and widows. In December 1776, while Colonel Oakey Hoagland was away with Washington, his wife Dinah received an urgent warning: 2,000 Hessians were descending on Bordentown. She quickly tore down the tavern sign and shuttered the windows, successfully hiding the building at the corner of Main and Market. Though the Hessians eventually broke in to loot the liquor and damage the interior, Dinah’s quick thinking saved the structure from total destruction, and it reopened to serve after the war.
Further north in Nottingham (Hamilton), Abigail Pearson faced an even harder path. After her husband Isaac was killed in the winter of 1776, she stepped up alone to raise their son and manage both their farm and tavern, ensuring her family and business survived the height of the conflict.
The Art of Survival: Hospitality, Tactics, and “Cunning Survival”
In 1775, Mary Peale Field was thrust into a Revolutionary nightmare. Suddenly widowed, she was left to manage a massive estate, tavern, and river landing in Fieldsboro.
Perched on a strategic bluff, her home, White Hill Mansion, was a target for every faction. When the American Navy seized her supplies, neighbors branded her a rebel; when British cavalry arrived to investigate, a fever-stricken Mary used sharp diplomacy to talk them down and save her home from a ransack.
Her greatest weapon was “cunning neutrality.” During the Hessian occupation, she hosted Captain von Wreden and sipped tea with Count von Donop. This tactical hospitality earned her official protection orders, sparing her property while nearby farms were plundered.
Though she played the neutral host, her heart belonged to the cause. She later married the Continental Navy’s highest-ranking officer and helped the legendary Commodore John Barry evade British capture.
Much like Mary Field, Mary Comely of Bordentown saved the historic Francis Hopkinson House by hosting Hessians in 1776. Together, they prove that in the chaos of revolution, a woman’s wits were her most powerful defense.
Homegrown Spies
In Bordentown, a bustling Delaware River port, women transformed their homes into vital supply centers and intelligence hubs. Among the most famous was sculptor Patience Lovell Wright. After her husband died in 1769, she and her sister Rachel opened studios in Philadelphia and New York. By 1772, her fame took her to London, where she used her elite social access to spy for General Washington and the American cause. Wright’s story proves that Revolutionary influence extended far beyond the battlefield—and well beyond New Jersey’s borders.
Quaker Pacifists
In Crosswicks and Bordentown, Quaker women faced a grueling test of faith. Caught between their pacifist beliefs and the devastation of war, they endured theft, plundered crops, stolen livestock, and burned homes from both sides. Despite the chaos, they steadfastly refused to pay “war taxes” or take up arms. Instead, they turned their homes into sanctuaries, providing food and medical care to soldiers and civilians alike proving that humanitarian aid was its own courageous form of service.
Why These Stories Matter
The women of northern Burlington and Mercer counties rarely appear in grand monuments or heroic paintings. Yet their daily courage—to protect families, aid neighbors, and live their convictions—made independence possible. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, remembering these women, and many more, helps restore them to their rightful place in our shared history. They were never mere spectators; they were the steady hands that guided our communities through revolution and into the dawn of a new nation.
PLACES TO VISIT
• Crosswicks Friends Meeting House: See a British cannonball still lodged in the wall from a 1778 skirmish.
• Patience Lovell Wright House (Bordentown): The home of the famed sculptor who used her art to spy for the Patriots.
• Francis Hopkinson House (Bordentown): Saved from destruction by Mary Comely’s clever management of Hessian troops.
• White Hill Mansion (Fieldsboro): Mary Field’s estate, standing as a monument to her “cunning neutrality” and survival
• Isaac and Abigail Pearson House (Hamilton): Abigail Pearson’s home and farm.
Michael Skelly, Sr. is an independent historian, writer, and Board Member of Bordentown Historical Society.
,
